Aerial machine.



H. B. LISTER. AERIAL MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25,1912. 1,084,807. Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

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INVENTOR HENRI/B. Lia TE. H

ATTORNEY H. B. LISTER. AERIAL MACHINE APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25,1912.

Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

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i INVENTOR Emmi B LISTER WITNESSES:

Mimi? H. B. LISTER. AERIAL MACHINE APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25, 1912.

Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

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ATTORNEY HENRY IB. LISTER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

AERIAL MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

Application filed June 25, 1912. Serial No. 705,705

To all wh'om iamag concern Be it known thatI, HENRY B. LisTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented a new and useful Aerial Machine, of which the following is a specification in such full and clear terms as will enable those skilled in. the art to construct and use the same.

This invention relates to an aerial machine of the helicopter type, and an object of the invention is. to produce a machine having two lifting members which will revolve at such speeds as to each give a substantially uniform lifting efi'ect.

A further object of the, invention is to produce a machine having two rotary lifting elements revolving in opposite directions, whereby one element becomes the fulcrum for the other, thus preventing the machine from rotating with one of said lifting elements as would be liable to occur if the pull upon each and lifting effect of each were not the same. l

A further object of the invention is to provide oppositely rotating lifting elements which will not interfere with one another, as is liable to occur where one lifting element is placed directly over the other,

In the drawings in which the same numeral of reference is applied to the same portion throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus, a portion thereof being shown in section for purposes of illustration, Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the apparatus looking in the direction of-the arrow on Fig. 1,".thecarbeing broken away to illustrate the placing of the engine and clutches, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine, Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing the supports for the rotary lifting elements, Fig. 5 is a plan view partly in section showing the supports for the lifting elements, and Fig. 6 is a plan view of the car and parts adjacent the same.

The numeral 1 represents the car or hasket, in which car the engine 2 is placed. Extending upwardly from each corner of the basket are suitable rigid standards 3, there being four of them. These standards are suitably braced together by means of horizontal braces 4-and 5, while they are connected'by means of a cable 6 at their upper ends.

xtending-outwardly from the supports 3' at a suitable inclination and conn cted thereto in the plane of the brace 5 are four braces 7, 8, 9 and 10. The braces 7 to 10 inelusive are connected at their upper and outer ends to a suitable fixed ring 11, which s circular and entirely surrounds the liftmg members. Extending from the plane of the braces 4 are four suitable braces 12, 13,

- ers are supported by means of rods 21 and 22 respectively and are used in such numbers as may be necessary to give the wheels the desired support. It will also be noted that there are two rollers on each of the rods 21 and 22, one roller bearing upon the outer rotating member and the other bearing upon the inner member. The outer ring 11 and the tube 17 are connected with the uprights 3 by means of cables 23 and 24 respectively, there being four cables in each set. It will also be understood by those skilled in the art that such additional wire bracing may be used as is deemed necessary, although no such bracing is illustrated in the drawings.

The standards 3 support a small ring 25, which ring is provided with a series of horizontal rollers 26 and a series of vertical rollers 27, such a number of each being used as is deemed necessary to adequately support the inner rotatingmember 28. It will also be noted (see Fig. 3) that the outer ring 11 is provided with a similar series of horizontal rollers 29 and ,vertical rollers 30. The horizontal and vertical thrust rollers bear upon grooved flanges 33, 34, 35 and 36, said flanges being fastened to the inner and outer rings of'the two rotating lifting members 28 and 37. The grooved flanges 33 to 36 inclusive are secured respectively to rings 40, 41, 42 and 43, which rings form respectively the inner and outer peripheries of the lifting members 28 and 37. The inner and outer parts of each of the lifting members are suitably connected together and have a series of oppositely placed inclined vanes 45 and 46, said vanes being made of any light. fabric such as canvas or silk and being inclined in opposite directions. The ring between the two members 28 and 37 carries a support 47 at diametrically oppopasses.

bers.

site points, said support extending above and below said ring and forming the bearing for a shaft 48 and for a shaft 49, the former above and the latter below the rotating mem- Bearings 50 and 51 are placed upon the upright members 3 for the support-of the shafts 48 and 49 respectively in addition to the support 47.

The inner ring 25 is covered with a fabric as indicated at in order to prevent the machine from falling too rapidly should the lifting members fail to act properly.

At the front of the machine there is a suit; able plate 53 for the support of a fixed propeller shaft 54, upon which the propeller 55 rotates. The propeller is'provlded with a grooved pulley 56 over which a belt 57 At the lower portion of the plate there are two grooved rollers 58 and 59. These grooved rollers are supported by the plate 53 and form the means for directing the belt 57 to the pulley 60 on the engine shaft. This pulley is loose upon the engine shaft and is operated by means of a friction clutch 61, a handle 62 being used to engage and disengage said friction clutch at will.

-The shafts 48 and 49 each support four 'wheels as indicated at 63,64, 65 and 66. The even numbered wheels 64 and 66, four of them, are secured rigidly to the shafts, while the odd numbered wheels 63 and 65, four of them, are loosely supported by said shafts for the purpose of guiding the lifting members and also for assisting in holding said shafts in a fixed position. The shaft 49 is provided with a grooved pulley 67, while the shaft 48 is provided with a grooved pulley 68, a crossed belt 69 passing over both of said pulleys. The shaft 48 is also provide'd with a pulley 70, over which a belt 71 passes. This belt also passes over two idler pulleys'72 and 73 supported from a cross brace 74 in the plane of the braces 5. From the pulleys 73 and 72, the belt 71 extends downwardly over a pulley 75 on the engine shaft 2. engine shaft and is rotated by means of a friction clutch'76, a handle 77 being used by the operator to engage and disengage said clutch at will. I

In order that the machine may be steered, a bar 78 is'secured to the rim llat a point diametrically opposite from the propeller and this bar pivotally supports a rudder 79. This rudder 1s provlded with an operating arm 80 and with a stiff spring81, the object of-which is to pull the rudder in one direction when permitted to move in that direction by the slackening of the cable 82which holds the rudder in -its normal position.

This cable 82 passes over a pulley 83 and over a second pulley 84 in .the car and to a suitable hand lever 85 which is used to steer the machine ineither direction.

It will be understood that the details of The pulley 75 is loose uponthenoeaeov the steering mechanism form no part of the present invention and may be altered atwill.

In operation the engine is started and the clutch 76 is engaged with the pulley 75, whereupon the lifting members 28 and 37 will rotate in opposite directions with substantially equal effects. VVhen rotating at such a speed as to" cause the machine to rise from the ground, the propeller 55 may be started and will cause a forward movement thereof. The lifting effect is determined by the velocity of rotation of the members. 28 and 37, this velocity being regulated by the slipping of the clutch 76. Q

The essential part of this invention lies in the use of two lifting members having sub stantially the same lifting effect and in which the torque is substantially balanced, and which rotate in opposite directions, thus reducing the tendency for the machine to rotate to a minimum. This result is obtained by constructing the machine to have. substantially the same areas, substantially the same pitch of their respective vanes, and substantially the same mean'linear rate of travel around the axis, but dissimilar'rates of revolution around the axis. The mean circumference of each meinber is located in a. circle cutting each member into equal areas, and the ratios of their respective revolutions can be expressed by the proportion that the mean'circumference of the inner memberis to the mean circumference of the outer member as is the number of revolutions of the outer member-to the number of revolutions of the inner member, or to concisely express it:mean circumference of in-- ner member: mean circumference of outer member: number of revolutions of outer member: number of revolutions of inner member. Thus the mean circumferenceof inner member multipliedby greater number of revolutions will equal mean circumference of outer member multiplied by lesser number of revolutions.

In order to produce rotary lifting mem bers, of the type shown herein, havmg the same lifting efiect, it will be apparent that each must have substantially the same meanlinear velocity and equal areas. This re-. sults in the inner member having its vanes longer than the vanes of the outer member by such an amount as will give the desired equal areas,'the pitch of all the vanes being substantially the same.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent oft-he United States, is as fol lows:

1. In an aerial machine, a frame having rigld concentrlc rmgs incloslng substantially equal annular areas, revoluble annular lift:

ing wheels substantially filling. each of said areas and supported by the frame, a pair of shafts having driving pulleys in contact with symmetrical portions of each of said wheels, means connecting certain of said pulleys and said shafts to reversely rotate the wheels, and means to rotate saidshafts, substantially as described.

2. In an aerial machine, a frame having rigid concentric rings inclosing substantially equal areas, revoluble annular lifting wheels supported in the frame and substan-. tially filling said areas, pulleys carried by said shafts and contacting With symmetrical portions of the wheels, means connecting one half the pulleys to reversely rotate the wheels and means to rotate said. shafts, substantially as described.

3. In an aerial machine, a frame having rigid concentric rings inclosing substantially equal areas, annular lifting wheels substantially filling each of said areas, rollers carried by the rings for revolubly supporting said wheels, shafts above and below said wheels, pulleys on said shafts having their peripheries in contact with symmetrical portions ofthe wheels, means connecting certain of the pulleys to reversely rotate the wheels, and-means to rotate said shafts, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 20th day of June A. D. 1912, in the presence of the two subscribed witnesses.

HENRY B. LISTER \Vitnesses:

L. H. ANDERSON,

E. ROBERTS. 

